Director, Communications & Government Affairs (CGA)

We are a specialist pharmaceutical company 100% dedicated to developing medicines to treat and prevent HIV. As the pioneers in HIV innovation, we constantly look to push the boundaries of science to develop medicines that can change lives and give people more choice. Beyond our medicines, we are proud of our deep connection with the HIV community and work with partners to advance research and development, address HIV-related stigma, increase access to our medicines and provide funding and support to local community organisations to support their efforts in the HIV response.

We are ViiV Healthcare. Here until HIV and AIDS are not.

The Position:

This is an exciting opportunity to join ViiV UK as a Director, Communications & Government Affairs (CGA).

As CGA Director, you will be responsible for developing and delivering integrated communications and government affairs strategies that support delivery of ViiV’s UK commercial priorities. 

This is a critical role in shaping the UK external environment to support sustainable and timely access to VIIV’s innovation. Reporting to the UK General Manager, this position requires strong strategic insight, external influence, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to deliver high impact, outcome focused communications and government affairs programmes. Within this role, you will navigate the needs of our UK Commercial organisation in the context of the UK environment to effectively leverage opportunities and mitigate against risk, all in pursuit of ensuring access and uptake of ViiV medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, can bring optimal benefit to UK patients, the NHS, and the UK economy.

As a CGA Director, you will be expected to proactively engage with communication and policy stakeholders, fostering meaningful relationships and advocacy.

You will also work closely with GSK colleagues across UK, Global and Corporate CGA teams, to leverage collective expertise and maximise reach and impact.

In this role you will play a vital role on the ViiV UK Leadership Team, with the opportunity for involvement / leadership on key ViiV UK initiatives, further expanding your ability to inform business strategy and support delivery of specific business objectives.

What You'll Be Doing:

In this role, you will have the opportunity to help us define a new industry leading approach to market preparation, launch readiness and how we build trusted relationships with external stakeholders. Your mission is to build trust, drive dialogue and ignite transformation to facilitate better access to innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention, support government ambitions to end new HIV transmissions by 2030 alongside a shift towards a prevention approach to delivering healthcare.

Specific core responsibilities will include:

• Government Affairs Leadership: Create and deliver an outcome driven government affairs strategy that proactively engages policy stakeholders and nurtures trusted relationships that drive positive changes in the external environment.
• Strategic Advisor: Provide trusted insights and strategic counsel to ViiV UK Commercial Leaders, guiding commercial strategy and decisions, bringing the external view in, and providing the analysis of what that means for our business.
• Product Launches and Advocacy: Develop and deliver integrated CGA launch campaigns; data releases, targeted and creative approaches to communication and advocacy plans that set ViiV apart from competitors.
• Craft and Execute High Impact Communications: Develop and implement both external and internal communication strategies, seizing every opportunity to share pipeline advances, deliver thought leadership on topical issues and bolster advocacy for improved patient access and a sustainable health system.
• Media Relations / Issues Management: Developing and leading media relations strategies that enhance reputation and mitigate against risk, including hands-on issues management and media engagement.
• Senior Leader Engagement: Provide strategic guidance and messaging for key stakeholder interactions, supporting senior leaders in their engagements; speaker events, social media, media, government.
• Insights & Analysis: Actively monitoring media and policy developments to ensure delivery of timely insights and analysis to the business. We can seize opportunities and mitigate against risk.
• Voice of ViiV: Act as a spokesperson and representative for ViiV in CGA relevant forums and within GSK and externally. You will be expected to be proactive and visible in person across key external stakeholders, attending topical events, initiating an active external engagement programme that supports specific areas of interest. Building meaningful relationships and representing a consistent voice of ViiV UK.
• ViiV UK leadership – where appropriate, in your role as a member of the ViiV UK Leadership team, lead or take part in key business projects to support overall business objectives for ViiV UK
• Disease Awareness: Where appropriate, partner with medical team for development and delivery of integrated disease awareness programmes, collaborating with relevant partners to enhance public understanding, educate stakeholders and support patient and system needs.

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Why You:

We are looking for a high energy individual who can bring their market preparation and launch excellence expertise to this pivotal role. Pioneering new approaches, creative thinking and helping us to differentiate ViiV.

This role is an individual contributor position operating within a highly complex, matrixed organisational structure, requiring strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management.

• Proven Track Record: Your track record shows strategic capability and delivery of specific outcome-based achievements in healthcare communications and policy within the pharmaceutical industry.

• Excellent Relationships: You have established relationships relevant to pharmaceutical industry and health policy and proven experience of developing effective relationships in a highly matrixed organisation.

• Leadership and Adaptability: You are ambitious, proactive, and able to influence and engage effectively. You are highly comfortable in a complex and fast-paced environment and can adapt and be agile to competing demands.

• Influence and Collaboration: Ability and capacity to influence at various organisational levels, both within and beyond our ViiV.

• Excellent Communication Skills: Highly skilled and experienced in communications, both in terms of written and verbal expression. You excel in connecting with others and building trusted, meaningful relationships.

• High Personal Accountability and Integrity:  You hold yourself to the highest standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring trust and reliability in all that you do.

• Demonstrated Ability to Work Across Matrixes: You collaborate effectively with our local, regional, and global franchise matrix. Your ability to navigate these complex structures is a testament to your expertise.

• Experience of leading agency partnerships: You have experience of working strategically with agency partners to deliver high impact CGA programmes that deliver tangible outcomes.

• Independence and Multitasking: Excellent at developing high impact strategy and working independently to deliver set objectives, handling multiple projects simultaneously. Able to take initiative and delivers results.

• Keen Business Acumen: You have well-developed commercial understanding that ensures you can make informed decisions and develop CGA strategies that align with our goals.

• UK Healthcare Expertise: good knowledge of the UK healthcare landscape and market access pathway, experience of working with or within Government on Health priorities – understand the intricacies of the process of leading and delivering policy change.

Key Qualifications:

• Educated to degree level or with equivalent proven experience.

• Significant experience of Communications & Government Affairs experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with commercial and/or market access exposure.

How to apply
If this role excites you, please apply with your CV and a short cover letter. Tell us why you are a strong fit and how your experience matches the responsibilities and qualifications. We look forward to hearing from you.

Closing Date: 8th May 2026

Working arrangement
This role is hybrid. You will be expected to work onsite 2/3 days per week at our London HQ. Some travel in the UK may be required.

What we value in you
You are honest, curious and team-focused. You listen and build trust quickly. You use evidence to shape recommendations and act with transparency. You welcome different perspectives and create an inclusive working space. You are resilient and able to manage competing priorities with calm. You care about making a meaningful impact for patients and wider society.
 

Why Us?

At ViiV Healthcare, we will not rest until we leave no person living with HIV behind. Until the 40 million people living with HIV is down to zero, we will continue searching for new ways to limit the impact of HIV. 

We are the only pharmaceutical company solely focused on combating, preventing, and ultimately eradicating HIV and AIDS. At ViiV Healthcare, we do things differently. Born out of a partnership between GSK and Pfizer in 2009, with Shionogi joining in 2012, we are determined to help end the HIV epidemic. We are guided by our mission to leave no person living with HIV behind and it is this mission that unites our employees located across the globe. We combine expertise in research, manufacturing, policy and more to push the boundaries of what people think is possible in HIV treatment and care. As a result of our connection with GSK, we are able to draw on their proud history and resources. This means that you would receive all the employee benefits offered by GSK.

Living our mission of leaving no person living with HIV behind means keeping inclusion and diversity at the heart of everything we do - from our breakthrough innovation, to our diverse portfolio of medicines as well as the work we do to partner with HIV communities.

Having a truly inclusive culture where we’re all able to be ourselves and feel like we belong will make us an even stronger team, better able to perform as a business and deliver on our mission to leave no person living with HIV behind.

ViiV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at HR.AmericasSC-CS@gsk.com where you can also request a call.

Please note should your inquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the link link where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive

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ViiV does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact ViiV's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to ViiV. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and ViiV. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of ViiV. ViiV shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

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